‘We were defeated in offside time’ – Van Nistelrooy fumes after late FA Cup loss

Ruud van Nistorrooy claimed that his Leicester City side was beaten in “Offsat Time” during their FA Cup Fourth round collision with Manchester United on Friday.

Bobby de Cordova-Reid had given the Foxes a half-time lead thanks to his header in the short distance three minutes before the break, only for Joshua Zirkzee to recover parity.

And with extra time and fines, Harry Maguire appeared with the winner in the third minute of the second half of the stopping time, but his header came with controversy.

Maguire seemed to be in an offside position before he connected to the free kick of Bruno Fernandes, but with VAR not used in this phase of the competition, the goal was given.

Leicester has now lost three of their four games against United in the FA Cup (W1), but Van Nistelrooy expressed his frustration about the decision of the officials to award the winning goal.

“We were not defeated in 'Fergie Time', we were defeated in foreign times,” said Van Nistelrooy shortly after the defeat in Old Trafford.

Late heartbreak #munlei pic.twitter.com/xzd860gdak

– Leicester City (@LCFC) 7 February 2025

Speaking of the lack of VAR, he added: “This was not necessary. Look, Var, you have a few centimeters, a few centimeters.

“This was half a meter, clearly in line. It is difficult to take because the team eventually earned the draw, the extra time to stay in the game. You never know what is happening.

“It was a very good team performance, started really good, pressed United on the ball, very, very stable, earned to go 1-0 during the break.

“Of course we know that the second half will put some pressure on us and some opportunities, but not even that much.

“We deserved to go and go for the fight in extra time, and perhaps fines. Decisions such as these, at our level, are difficult to swallow.”

United boss Ruben Amorim said his side was lucky with the decision and believes it confirms the use of VAR, even if his side benefited from his absence on this occasion.

Amorim also suggested that his side was a bit lucky that Maguire itself had admitted a soft fine in their penalty shootout victory over Arsenal in the previous round.

“With VAR it is not a goal,” Amorim said. “I think it is important to have VAR because it is fair for the game.

“It's hard to lose with a offside game. But we deserve a little luck.”